The present invention relates to a memory card freely mountable onto an information apparatus to be used in the apparatus and freely dismountable from the information apparatus as well as relates to a control method of the memory card, a method of controlling accesses to the memory card and computer programs implementing the methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to a memory card including a wireless communication function used for sending data stored in a memory of the memory card by wireless communication to an external wireless apparatus as well as relates to a control method of the memory card, a method of controlling accesses to the memory card and computer programs implementing the methods.
To put it in detail, the present invention relates to a memory card capable of sending data stored in a memory of the memory card with ease to an external wireless apparatus by wireless communications without relying on operations carried out on a host apparatus in which the memory card has been mounted as well as relates to a control method of the memory card, a method of controlling accesses to the memory card and computer programs implementing the methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to a memory card capable of sending data from a memory of the memory card to an external wireless apparatus by wireless communications without requiring driver software to be installed in a host apparatus in which the memory card has been mounted as software for controlling the wireless communications as well as relates to a control method of the memory card, a method of controlling accesses to the memory card and computer programs implementing the methods.
Accompanying the present technological revolution, a variety of information apparatus each used for handling computer files for storing various kinds of information such as texts, images and sounds has been developed and sold in the market. The information apparatus include a PC (Personal Computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a digital camera and a portable media player. Most of the information apparatus have an interface such as a card slot and a connector, which are used as a mounting unit of a cartridge-type memory device such as a memory card and a USB memory. The card slot and the connector allow the cartridge-type memory to be mounted on and dismounted from the information apparatus with a high degree of freedom. A plurality of examples of the memory card includes a Memory Stick (Registered Trademark of Sony Corporation) and an SD (Secure Digital) card. These typical memory cards conform to different specifications. In the following description, a memory card is a memory device that can be mounted on and dismounted from an information apparatus.
In the case of a digital camera, for example, an image taken by the digital camera is encoded into a predetermined file format such as the JPEG (Joint Picture Experts Group) or MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) format before being saved in a memory card mounted on the digital camera. In this way, the memory card can be used for storing a large number of pictures that cannot all be stored in a memory embedded in an information apparatus such as the digital camera as a memory having a relatively small storage capacity. In addition, as the memory card becomes full of data stored therein, the memory card can be replaced with another memory card having a storage capacity for newly accommodating additional taken pictures.
On top of that, a picture file generated by a digital camera can be transferred to another information apparatus such as a personal computer. The other information apparatus is capable of carrying out image processing such as adjustment of the picture quality and picture re-encoding. In addition, the information apparatus is also capable of executing management of pictures by storing the pictures in a database or an album. The information apparatus is also capable of transferring a picture to a television receiver for displaying the picture on a large screen to the user. The information apparatus is also capable of transferring a picture to a printer for printing the picture as a photo to be enjoyed by the user.
In accordance with a method of using a memory card for transferring an image or other data from a specific information apparatus to another, generally, the memory card is pulled out from the specific information apparatus and then mounted on the other information apparatus. As an alternative, a host apparatus having a memory card mounted thereon and an information apparatus serving as a transfer destination of data are capable of carrying out a communication of the data through a wire or wireless communication line by using wire or wireless interfaces. If the latter wireless communication is selected among other methods as a technique for transmission data, it is not necessary to provide connectors on the apparatus and connect the connectors by a cable. That is to say, the latter wireless communication is convenient.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an image transmission by wireless communication. It is assumed that a digital camera is used as a mobile apparatus in the typical image transmission shown in the figure. The digital camera stores an image taken thereby as image data in a memory embedded therein or an external memory card. Later on, the digital camera reads out desired image data from the embedded memory or the external memory card and sends the image data to an image reproduction apparatus such as a PC, a television set or a printer by way of a wireless interface. Of course, the image reproduction apparatus such as a PC, a television set or a printer also has a wireless interface module as an adopter. Then, the PC stores and displays the image data, the television set shows the image data on its screen or the printer prints out the image data on a piece of paper.
In order to send data by wireless communication as shown in the figure, the digital camera serving as the sender of data must have a wireless interface module. If the data sender is an apparatus that does not include an embedded wireless interface module, it is necessary to provide the data sender with an external wireless interface module such as an externally attached adapter. Examples of a wireless communication function used in the data transmission include wireless LANs based on the Blue tooth communication and the IEEE 802.11.
For example, external memory media including an embedded wireless communication function has been proposed in a document such as Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-77878. The external memory media includes a wire communication section for exchanging data by way of a physical connection section such as a connector with a host apparatus on which the external memory media is mounted. In addition, the external memory media includes a short-distance wireless-communication section for exchanging data with an external communication network by way of a short-distance wireless-communication network such as the Blue tooth communication. Thus, the host apparatus such as the digital camera serving as the data sender has such external memory media mounted thereon and drives the short-distance wireless-communication section employed in the external memory media to allow data to be exchanged with an external communication network.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a typical configuration of a memory card having a wireless communication function. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes the memory card having a wireless communication function and reference numeral 11 denotes a host apparatus such as a digital camera. Reference numeral 2 denotes an external apparatus such as a printer serving as a data transmission destination or a television monitor serving as a data output destination.
The wireless-communication-function-including memory card 10 has a flash memory 6 for executing the basic function of a memory card, a memory control section 7 and an interface section 8 serving as an interface with the host apparatus 11. In addition, the wireless-communication-function-including memory card 10 also includes a wireless section 4 for carrying out typically the Blue tooth communication and a communication control section 5. The communication control section 5 is a unit for controlling a communication protocol of the wireless communication. Reference numeral 3 denotes an antenna employed in the wireless-communication-function-including memory card 10 as a counterpart of an antenna 9 employed in the external apparatus 2.
Normally, the host apparatus 11 makes accesses to the flash memory 6 through the interface section 8 and the memory control section 7 in order to store data in the flash memory 6 and read out data from the flash memory 6. In an operation to send a desired image stored in the flash memory 6 to the external apparatus 2 serving as a data transfer destination, the host apparatus 11 reads out the image from the flash memory 6 through the interface section 8 and the memory control section 7. Then, the host apparatus 11 sends the image to the external apparatus 2 by wireless communication by way of the interface section 8, the communication control section 5, the wireless section 4 and the antenna 3.
In order to send data from the wireless-communication-function-including memory card 10 to the external apparatus 2 by wireless communication as described above, it is necessary to control a wireless communication function conforming to a predetermined communication protocol such as the Blue tooth communication or the communication based on the IEEE 802.11. It is thus necessary to install driver software in the host apparatus including a wireless interface module as software for driving a wireless communication function of the wireless interface module in accordance with the protocol. In the typical configuration shown in FIG. 10, the wireless interface module is the wireless-communication-function-including memory card 10 and the wireless communication function of the wireless interface module is the communication control section 5. Thus, in the typical configuration shown in FIG. 10, it is necessary to install driver software for controlling the communication control section 5. Such an operation to install such driver software is work cumbersome to the user.
In addition, in the case of a digital camera and another portable apparatus or an apparatus of a built-in type, the driver software itself cannot probably be executed. In this case, even if external memory media such as the memory card having an embedded wireless communication function described above is used in conjunction with the digital camera and the other portable apparatus or the apparatus of a built-in type, the wireless communication function cannot be carried out. As a result, in order to transfer data stored in the memory card to another apparatus, it is necessary to adopt the conventional method by which the memory card is taken to the other apparatus or the data is sent to the other apparatus through a wire connection.
In addition, operations to select a file to be sent and other operations related the communication processing must be carried out by operating a user interface of the digital camera or the other apparatus and the operations themselves are cumbersome.